Microfluidic devices and systems have been developed that provide substantial advantages in terms of analytical throughput, reduced reagent consumption, precision of data, automatability, integration of analytical operations and miniaturization of analytical equipment. These devices and systems gain substantial benefits from operating within the microscale range where analyses are carried out on sub-microliter, and even sub-nanoliter quantities of fluid reagents. Because these systems operate on such small scales, they use substantially smaller amounts of precious reagents, are able to mix and react materials in much shorter time frames, can be performed in small integrated systems, e.g., that perform upstream and downstream operations, and are far more easily automated.
While microfluidic devices and systems have a large number of substantial advantages, the one area where they suffer from a distinct disadvantage over conventional scale analyses is where a material to be analyzed is only present at very low concentrations. Specifically, where an analyte in a sample is at a very low concentration, very small volumes of the material will contain only very small amounts of the analyte of interest. Often, these amounts of analyte may fall near or below the detection threshold for the analytical system. In conventional scale operations, material can be provided in much larger volumes and substantially concentrated prior to analysis, using conventional concentration methods. These conventional concentration methods, however, do not lend themselves to microscale quantities of material.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to be able to provide methods, devices and systems that operate in the microfluidic domain, but that are able to perform a concentration operation to substantially concentrate an analyte of interest in on a sample material. The present invention meets these and a variety of other needs.
In a first aspect, the present invention provides a method of concentrating a material, comprising, providing at least first and second channel portions. The second channel portion intersects and is in fluid communication with the first channel portion. The first channel portion has at least first and second fluid regions. The first fluid region comprises the material and has a conductivity that is lower than the second fluid. The first and second fluids are in contact at a first substantially static interface. An electric field is applied through the first and second fluid regions in the first channel portion to concentrate the material at the first substantially static interface.
Another aspect of the present invention is a method of concentrating a material, comprised of providing a first channel portion having at least first and second fluid regions. The material has a first electrophoretic velocity in the first fluid region and a second electrophoretic velocity in the second fluid region. The second electrophoretic velocity is less than the first electrophoretic velocity as a result of a different ionic makeup of the first and second fluid regions. The first and second fluids are in contact at a first substantially static interface. The sample material is electrophoresed through the first fluid region in the first channel portion toward the second fluid region concentrating the sample material at the first substantially static interface.
Another aspect of the present invention is a system for concentrating a material. The system comprises a first channel portion having a first fluid region and a second channel portion having a second fluid region. The first and second channel regions are connected at a first fluid junction. The first fluid region comprises the material and has a conductivity that is lower than the second fluid region. The first and second fluid regions are in contact at a first substantially static fluid interface. An electrical power supply is operably coupled to the first channel portion for applying an electric field through the first and second fluid regions in the first channel portion, to concentrate the material at the first substantially static interface.